John was an Italian-American gangster who rose to become the head of the Gambino crime family in New York City. John Gotti was born to their parents from San Giuseppe Vesuviano, a commune in Naples, Italy; his father, John Joseph Gotti Sr., and his mother, Philomena, had 12 other children, five of whom became members of the Gambino crime family.
John attended Franklin K. Lane High School but was expelled for bullying other students and being absent most of the time – his father was a gambler who could barely provide food for the family, which is why John despised him.
At the age of 12, John joined his first gang, and at the age of 16, he made friends with several boys who would later join the Gambino family – he first started working for Carmine Fatico, the family’s capo, or captain.
John was arrested in February 1968 for stealing from United Airlines. Then again for stealing $50,000 worth of cigarettes while on bail – he served less than three years in prison for the United Airlines hijacking, and the charges for stealing cigarettes were dropped.
In 1972, he became a capo in the Gambino family, and in June 1974, he was sentenced to four years in prison for killing McBratney, a man who had killed Carlo Gambino’s nephew.
After the new Gambino family boss, Paul Castellano, was imprisoned in 1984, John was chosen to serve as the family’s boss – he devised a plan to assassinate the boss after he was released from prison on 16 December 1985, and he has declared the new boss at a meeting attended by 20 capos on 15 January 1986 – John chose Frank DeCicco as his underboss and Gallo as his consigliere (advisor and lawyer).
The Gambino family grew to be the most powerful mafia in the United States, with an annual income of around $500 million. However, on 14 December 1992, John surrendered to the police to face numerous charges.
He spent the rest of his life in the US Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois, spending most of his time in solitary confinement and being allowed only one hour per day outside. In 1999, John’s third son Peter took over as family boss; John died in prison on June 19, 2002, at t1, of throat cancer.
Also Read: Tom Dwan’s Impressive Net Worth Might Make You Wanna Shift Your Career
